Short Story

Question 1

What tense is the TOTTB written in? How do you know?

Answer 1

Past tense because the story uses words like once, was, and had.

Question 2

Who is the narrator in the TOTTB? What is his or her tone?

Answer 2

J.K Rowling. She sounds almost sad.

Question 3

What is the setting in the TOTTB? Where and when does the story take place?

Answer 3

This story takes place in a magical world, at twilight, in the past.

Question 4

Who is the most cunningly ingenious of the three brothers? Explain.

Answer 4

The third brother because he doesn’t trust death and stays humble and doesn’t ask for what he wants, but what he needs.

Question 5

What do you think would have happened if the third brother tried to hold onto the cloak for a longer period of time?

Answer 5

He would have become very frail but would have continued to live, but eventually death would have found him.

Question 6

What aspects make the TOTTB a parable?

Answer 6

It teaches you an important lesson which is that power will devour you and get the best of you if you don’t control it.

Question 7

Identify five abstract concepts the TOTTB revolves around.

Answer 7

Greed, power, arrogance, wisdom, revenge

Question 8

What do you think the “lonely, winding road at twilight” at the start of the TOTTB symbolizes?

Answer 8

It symbolizes that they took the road less traveled and their journey was difficult and dark.

Question 9

Where is the personification in the TOTTB?

Answer 9

Death

Question 10

What is one simple lesson the TOTTB teaches?

Answer 10

Be humble

Question 11

What was the first brothers motivation?

Answer 11

He wanted power and he wanted revenge on another wizard that had bested him in a fight.

Question 12

What was the first brothers wish?

Answer 12

He wished for a wand more powerful than any in existence.

Question 13

What was the result of the first brothers wish?

Answer 13

He was killed because he bragged about the wand.

Question 14

What was the second brothers motivation, wish, and the result of the wish?

Answer 14

His motivation was longing and love, his wish was to recall others from death, and the result was him dying by killing himself to be with the girl he loved.

Question 15

What was the third brothers motivation, wish, and the result of the wish?

Answer 15

His motivation was the will to live his life to the fullest, his wish was something that enabled him to go forth from that place without being followed by death, and the result was that he lived to an old age and parted this life as equals with death.

Question 16

What was Deaths motivation, plan, and result?

Answer 16

Deaths motivation was revenge, his plan was to trick the brothers into asking for something that would eventually kill them, and his result was he received all of the three brothers.

Question 17

List the six types of characters and describe what each means

Answer 17

Flat: may be summoned up in one or two traits. Has only been developed to a limited extent.
Stock: a special type of flat character. One who is stereotyped.
Round: complex and many sided. A fully developed character.
Static: One who is the SAME at the end of the story at at the beginning. Does NOT undergo personality changes.
Dynamic: A character that undergoes significant changes from the beginning to the end of the story.
Foils: A character that contrasts with another character to highlight certain characteristics in the OTHER character.

Question 18

List the five parts of a plot in order and define each.

Answer 18

Exposition: This occurs at the begging of a story. Here the characters and setting are introduced
Rising action: Conflicts start to develop. A building of interest and suspense occurs and leads to the climax. Initial incident is introduced in rising action.
Climax: The turning point of a story. The highest point of tension.
Falling action: action that follows the climax and ultimately leads to a solution. Either the character defeats the problem, learns to deal with the problem, or the problem defeats the character.
Resolution/Denouement: all loose ends are tied up.

Question 19

Define tone

Answer 19

Determined by an authors attitude or focus point toward his/her subject.

Question 20

Define Mood/Atmosphere

Answer 20

the climate of feeling in a literary work. The choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards mood.

Question 21

Define point of view.

Answer 21

The eyes through which the story is told. The narrative voice.

Question 22

Name the four points of view and describe each.

Answer 22

First person: The narrator is someone outside the story. Uses pronouns like “he,” “she,” “they.”
Third person limited: The narrator describes the internal thoughts, feelings, and motivations of one character.
Third person objective: Narrator knows or reveals nothing about the characters internal thoughts, feelings, and motivations. External facts.
Third person omniscient- Narrator knows and partially reveals thoughts, feelings, and motivations of all characters.

Question 23

Define conflict and give examples of external and internal conflict.

Answer 23

Conflict: conflict is the dramatic struggle between two or more forces in a story.
External conflict- man vs man, man vs technology, man vs society,
man vs environment, man vs beast, man vs supernatural
Internal conflict- man vs self

Question 24

Define theme

Answer 24

Theme: the central idea of the text. It is universal. Tells the reader about the human condition
Theme example: sleeping beauty
Topic- true love
Insight- the love between the two of the them overpowers Maleficent’s evil
Theme- true loves conquers all

Question 25

What do the first few paragraphs of LTTS suggest about Mary Maloney’s relationship with her husband?

Answer 25

They suggest that Mary adores her husband and they are happy together.

Question 26

Before the husband breaks the news, what three clues are there that this particular evening is going to be a break in routine in the LTTS story?

Answer 26

Patrick chugs his drink, when he refills it it’s almost completely whisky, he doesn’t smile or respond when she offers to get him something to eat.

Question 27

Do you think the murder was “premeditated” or a “crime of passion”? Why?

Answer 27

It was a crime of passion because she was not expecting him to break the routine, she was not expecting herself to kill him, and she didn’t have time to plan it out.

Question 28

Define irony and the three different types of irony.

Answer 28

Irony: a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words
Verbal irony- the speaker says one thing but means the opposite.
Dramatic irony- the audience or reader is aware of something one or more of the characters is not aware of
Situational irony- the opposite happens to what the reader has been led to expect